Florida Gators baseball focused on postseason, not MLB Draft

9:33 p.m. EST, May 31, 2012|By Joe Morgan, Correspondent

GAINESVILLE — The Florida Gators baseball team's national championship window is open, and they don't want to let in a draft.

Top-seeded Florida (42-18) kicks off the NCAA Gainesville Regional against Bethune-Cookman (34-25) tonight at 7 at McKethan Stadium. Once the double-elimination round is complete Monday, the 2012 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft will be underway.

"I'm not even going to discuss the draft," UF coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. "It has nothing to do with this team this weekend."

Seven Gators juniors and seniors are listed in the Baseball America 500. Mike Zunino holds the highest ranking among UF players at No. 2, and ESPN analyst Keith Law projects him as a Top-5 selection. Brian Johnson ranks second at 39th and Nolan Fontana is third at 46th.

"We don't really try to think about it," Randall said. "You're going to go where you're going to go. What's going to happen is going to happen. I'm excited about it, but the time's not come yet, so I'm not really thinking about it."

Fontana added: "You can't control what happens or what's happened in the past. … It's not on my mind at all."

Florida's seven ranked MLB Draft prospects comprise the core of a squad that won back-to-back SEC championships from 2010-11 and reached the College World Series final against South Carolina in Omaha last June.

"Every game helps you grow as a player," Fontana said of the Gators' veteran roster. "Three years here, so far, has definitely helped me and some of our other guys."

The UF upperclassmen hope to put their experience to good use in mentoring freshmen as the postseason progresses. Casey Turgeon, Justin Schafer and Josh Tobias have been lineup regulars down the stretch for Florida.

"We're going to come out and we're going to compete as we always do," Turgeon said. "It's just another game to us."

Turgeon did not formulate that attitude on his own. He needed some reassurance from his fellow middle infielder.

In order for the Gators to go back to the College World Series, they will need the freshmen to keep pace with the older core guys. Fontana sought out Turgeon earlier this season to help him develop his game.

"[Former UF infielder] Josh Adams did the same thing for me when I got here," Fontana said. "I saw a lot of myself in Casey when he first got here and that was a big part of it. … He's a hard-nosed guy and I love that."

When the Gators take on the Wildcats in the NCAA Gainesville Regional this weekend, the first four players on O'Sullivan's lineup card will likely be wearing professional uniforms later this summer. If the game is close near the end, O'Sullivan's top two options out of the bullpen will probably hear their names called by MLB clubs next week.

But, for now, Florida's core guys are still in Gainesville, and they have the nation's No. 1 overall seed to defend.

"I fully trust our players that they're fully focused on the task at hand and that's going about Bethune-Cookman on Friday night," O'Sullivan said. "I don't see [the MLB Draft] being a potential problem at all."